Local Education
Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Upcoming Events
Monday, October 17, 2016 St. Francis of Assisi Middle School – Community Helpers Training Location: St. Francis of Assisi Middle School (321 Lindsay Ave, Red Deer, AB T4R 3M1) Community Helpers is a supportive listening and suicide prevention training program for youth and adults identified by their peers as helping individuals. This program is available in schools and communities within Central Alberta. The training is tailored to meet the needs of the group and allows participants to meet others in their community and school also identified as helpers. The training bridges the gap between the identified helpers and community resources. This event is scheduled for October 17-18 for Grade 8 and 9 community helpers, and October 20-21 for Grade 6 and 7 community helpers. For more information, please contact Brandon Heck at 403-314-1449
- Taste Budz
- Golden Mini Donuts
- Papa Baldy’s Pizza
- Country House Kitchen and Catering
Vendors:
- Kastiel Welding
- heritage Makers
- Youngevity
- Scentsy
- Arbonne
- Thrive Life
- Perfecting your Fashion
- Younique
- Tupperware
- Mongolia & Vine
- Fussy Party Decor
- Balderson Creations
- Pottery Verve
- Avon
- Steeped Tea
- And many more to come…Please contact Cheryl Nichols at (403) 343-3238 for more information.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
St. Dominic Catholic High School – Junior Girls Volleyball Game Time: 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Location: St. Dominic Catholic High School (5502 50 St, Rocky Mountain House, AB T4T 1W6)
St. Dominic Junior Girls Volleyball Team will play at home on this date against David Thompson High School. Come out and cheer on the Huskies!
For more information, please contact Paige Sears-Owchar at 403-845-5313.
Deputy Minister of Education, Curtis Clarke invites all parents to join a Conversation with Education Minister David Eggen to discuss curriculum development on Tuesday, October 18 at Father Henri Voisin School from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. This event is open to the public, and media are invited to attend as well.
It is recommended that anyone attending this event read this document: The Guiding Framework for the Design and Development of Kindergarten to Grade 12 Provincial Curriculum.
The Senior Girls and Boys Volleyball teams will play away games at Lindsay Thurber High School on this date. Girls play at 6:00 p.m. with the Boys to follow.
Please contact Gino Castellan at 403-342-4800 for more information. Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
All 2017 graduating students and their parents are encouraged to attend this meeting for important information regarding graduation and scholarships. This event will be held in the school’s gymnasium. Please contact Shannon Nivens at 403-342-4800 for more information.
Members of the Sylvan Lake Lion’s Club will conduct an eye screening test on Kindergarten students on October 18-19.
Please contact Loretta Zolinski at 403-343-2568 for more information.
Wendy Bownes, a music specialist with the MusicKidz program will visit Grade 1-5 Foundations students on this date. Wendy will deliver engaging and interactive music that allows learners of all abilities to participate, enjoy music, and express themselves through music. MusicKidz is part of Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Physical Literacy Community Connections (PLCC) programming.
The PLCC programming provides a variety of opportunities for students in our Foundations Programs to actively interact in a variety of activities throughout the community to enhance their learning experiences.
Please contact Tobi Langlois at 403-346-0505 for more information.
Father Tom will join Grade 1 and 2 students to read with them as part of the school’s Read-a-Thon.
Please contact Shane Chisholm at 403-227-2123 for more details.
The Healthy Active School Symposium (HASS) provides an opportunity for students on the Health Champion team to get together with other Health Champions in Red Deer to discuss ideas and promote a healthy lifestyle. This action-packed day will be held on October 20.
Please contact Char Andrew at 403-343-1055 for more information.
Pre-kindergarten families are invited to attend this event with our Coordinator of Inclusive Learning, Suzy Potts. Mrs. Potts will provide different strategies to help with speech.
Join us for an interactive session that will focus on expanding language, thinking skills and conversation with common activities and daily routines. Students will make a snack, create a game and complete a craft. They will also participate in an interactive reading experience with Pete the Cat. This session will be led by our Speech and Language Pathologists.
For more information, please contact Suzy Potts at 403-343-1055.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Junior Girls and Boys Volleyball teams will play away games vs. Hunting Hills High School on this date. Girls start at 6:00 p.m. with the boys to follow.
Please contact Gino Castellan at 403-342-4800 for more information.
Tanya, the Kerry Wood Nature Centre Programmer, will provide students in Grades 1-5 in the Foundations Program with vast opportunities to discover more about the great outdoors. Students will be able to broaden their classroom knowledge with hands-on exploration of animals, plants, birds and many other elements that we are fortunate to be surrounded by in the Red Deer area. Kerry Wood is a part of Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools’ Physical Literacy and Community Connections (PLCC) programming.
For more information, please contact Tobi Langlois at 403-346-0505.
Games will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday October 21 and continue through to October 22 at 8:00 p.m. The official schedule is posted here. Please contact Gino Castellan at 403-342-4800 for more information.
The Junior Girls Volleyball Team will host a volleyball tournament on October 21-22. Come out and cheer on the Huskies!
For more information, please contact Mark Fraser at 403-845-5313.
The Cougars Football team will play an away game against Lacombe Composite High School on this date. Let’s go, Cougars!
Please contact Gino Castellan at 403-342-4800 for more information.
Join our Family School Enhancement Counsellors and First Nations, Métis and Inuit Support Team for an evening event open to all RDCRS families. This Walk ‘n Talk event encourages healthy physical activity and conversation.
Please meet at Kin Kanyon Park off 47 Ave in Red Deer. Glow sticks/bracelets will be provided, as well as refreshments and a bonfire. Families are encouraged to bring their own flashlights or their own glow sticks as well.
For more information, please contact Julie Masson at 403-346-8951.
Grade 12 academic achievements and Memorial Scholarships will be awarded. Students are to attend by invitation only. Media welcome to attend.
For more information, please call Shannon Nivens at 403-342-4800.
Education
Catholic school board members oust fellow trustee for opposing LGBT agenda, talking to media
From LifeSiteNews
One of Monique LaGrange’s fellow trustees said she ‘violated the Trustee Code of Conduct by speaking to the media about what the Board did and about gender ideology.’
A Canadian Catholic school trustee opposed to extreme gender ideology and who compared the LGBT agenda targeting kids to that of “brainwashing” Nazi propaganda has been “disqualified” from her position after her fellow board members voted her out because she spoke to alternative media.
On Tuesday, the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) board of directors voted 3-1 to disqualify Trustee Monique LaGrange. As a result of being voted out, LaGrange later resigned from her position.
LaGrange’s lawyer, Alberta-based attorney James Kitchen of Liberty Coalition Canada, told LifeSiteNews that the RDCRS voted to kick her out “pursuant to section 87 of the Education Act (disqualification).”
Kitchen said that one of LaGrange’s fellow trustees “submitted a second complaint that Monique had violated the Trustee Code of Conduct by speaking to the media (specially Laura-Lynn and Talk Truth) about what the Board did and about gender ideology.”
On September 26, the RDCS passed a motion to mandate that LaGrange undergo “LGBTQ+” and holocaust “sensitivity” training for her social media post.
One of her fellow trustees had complained that because she spoke to the media against gender ideology, after she was ordered to undergo the training, she should be “disqualified.”
LaGrange said that her being disqualified shows that “Alberta has an abuse of power happening, beginning at the lowest level of politics,” in comments made to alternative non-legacy media.
She added that she hopes her removal “motivates Albertans to step up and replace these woke boards in our province.”
LaGrange said she will continue to “move forward and defend our families, our children and our freedom.”
LifeSiteNews contacted LaGrange for additional comment and will later provide more information on her ousting.
In a media statement yesterday, the RDCRS said that LaGrange had violated “sanctions issued on September 26, 2023, and further violations of Board Policy and the Education Act.”
“As a result of the disqualification, as per Section 90 of the Education Act, LaGrange resigned from her position this morning. Effective today, Mrs. LaGrange is no longer a member of the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Board of Trustees,” the RDCRS noted.
The RDCS did not specify which sanctions LaGrange had violated.
LaGrange initially came under fire when she posted to social media in September an image showing kids in Nazi Germany waving swastika flags during a parade, with the bottom of the post showing an image of kids waving LGBT “pride” flags along with the text, “Brainwashing is brainwashing.”
After her post went viral, calls for her to step down grew from leftist Alberta politicians and others. This culminated in her removal as director of the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA).
LaGrange was elected in 2021 and said about being kicked out of the ACSTA that it was “unfortunate that ACSTA decided to make a rash decision to remove me, refusing to acknowledge that the heart of my message was to protect our children and to nourish their God-given identities.”
LaGrange to fight her removal
Kitchen told LifeSiteNews that as far as the next steps for LaGrange, they are looking to have her disqualification reviewed by a court.
They want a “Judicial review application to the Alberta King’s Bench,” Kitchen said.
“We will be doing that here in December,” he said.
When it comes to LaGrange’s social media post, which has been removed, she said that the post was about protecting kids, not hurting them, saying her meme was “centered around indoctrination and how children are vulnerable to evil agendas (agendas coming from organizations like Planned Parenthood, the UN or SOGI 123) filtering through culture.”
“This meme is not comparing or attacking the LGBTQ community, it is about protecting our children and keeping parents as the primary educators,” she added.
There has been growing opposition in Canada to the teaching of radical transgender ideology in schools, which not only impacts children but also those in education who voice their opposition to such teaching.
In recent months, many concerned Canadians have protested LGBT indoctrination in the nation’s schools. In September, thousands from coast to coast participated in the Million Person March.
Extreme leftists trying to push their LGBT agenda in the classrooms has led to the conservative-led governments of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick implementing parental consent policies into law.
Saskatchewan, under Premier Scott Moe, recently passed a new policy protecting parental rights that states parents must be told if their child changes “genders” at school.
Moe followed the example of New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, who was condemned earlier this year by LGBT activists for reviewing the province’s “gender identity” policy that allowed schools to hide students’ “transgender” status from parents.
Under the new policy, teachers need parental consent to use different names or pronouns for students younger than 16.
At its recent AGM, members of the ruling United Conservative Party (UCP) under leader Danielle Smith passed a host of resolutions calling for parental rights to be protected.
Smith told 3,800 UCP members that she unequivocally defends parental rights, saying society depends on “strong and nurturing families” and parents are the “primary caregivers and educators” of their children.
Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leader and MP Pierre Poilievre recently blasted what he called “radical gender ideology” targeting kids in public schools.
While LGBT activists have gone after the likes of Higgs and Moe for their slight pushback against gender ideology, a recent Leger poll has shown that Canadians in general favor parental rights in education, especially regarding the material being shared with children.
Gateway Valedictorian to become a teacher to make a difference
Following in her mother’s footsteps after seeing the difference she has made in the lives of students is Jessica Snyder’s goal in becoming a teacher after she graduates from Gateway Christian School this month.
Jessica has been named the Gateway’s valedictorian this year. Graduation ceremonies will take place June 29 at Canyon Ski Resort.
“I was so excited to learn I was named valedictorian. I was so happy!” said Jessica. “It’s such a huge honour that I get to address my class and congratulate them.”
She added being named valedictorian has been a goal of hers since middle school.
“It took a lot of hard work and I had to be very dedicated to my work. It took a lot of strength especially through COVID,” said Jessica. “My family and friends really helped me to keep going and keep learning. It’s all a learning experience, so that was a motivator to me – the more I devoted myself to my work, the more I learned.”
Completing high school in a global pandemic has presented a number of challenges, but Jessica didn’t let that stop her from achieving her goals.
“It has been hard. The biggest thing that has helped me this year has been the support of my family and the Lord too – just praying for the strength to get through it and find the best path for me and my family to navigate this,” she said. “Having that steady anchor of my family and the Lord has definitely helped me keep committed and keep going.”
Looking back at her time in school, Jessica said there were many highlights, but it’s the small moments that stand out to her the most.
“Most people like to remember the big things that happen like school trips, which were so much fun. But I think the real moments where I bonded with my class were the small moments like sitting and playing Uno at lunch, and if it’s a hot day outside, we go and play at the park. It’s those small moments which meant the most to me.”
As for her future, Jessica will attend Red Deer College next year as she has been accepted to the Bachelor of Education program.
“I am going to go with the secondary route, which means I will be teaching in the higher grades,” she said. “My mom is a teacher, so I have taken after that just seeing the impact she has had on students’ lives. Growing up in a family with a teacher has definitely helped shape my life, so I think it would be great for me to follow in her path and make it my own.”
Jessica added she is excited to address her fellow classmates during graduation.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve had to show a steadfast character – being loyal and committed, devoted and dedicated whether that’s with our relationships or working towards finding a job,” she said. “I want to encourage my class to keep going with that because it helps us get to great goals like achieving our graduation.”
Chris Kooman, Vice Principal at Gateway Christian School, said he is extremely proud of Jessica.
“Jessica is a hard working student with attention to detail and a love of learning. She takes her studies seriously, working diligently to excel in every area,” he said. “She cares about her classmates, is fun and energetic, and works on relationships as much as her studies. Jessica’s willingness to help others, improve herself, and constantly improve are qualities that will take her far in life!”
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